Wednesday, December 15, 2021
A reintensified Hurricane Lala is packing 125 mph winds near the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, days after it raked the Big Island with flooding.
Hurricane Lala is back to major hurricane strength over the open Pacific, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Central Pacific Hurricane Center has posted a Hurricane Warning for the northwestern reaches of Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument. As of the 5 a.m. Hawaii time advisory on Wednesday, August 19, Lala was a Category 3 storm with sustained winds near 125 mph, centered about 275 miles south of Maro Reef and moving northwest at 9 mph.
The Hurricane Warning runs from Lisianski Island to Maro Reef, with a Tropical Storm Warning reaching east toward French Frigate Shoals. Forecasters expect Lala to turn north on Thursday and hold hurricane strength into the weekend before it gradually weakens. Large waves are already building across the monument, and the low-lying atolls between French Frigate Shoals and Maro Reef could see ocean water wash across the land in the days ahead.
Those islands are mostly uninhabited, so the immediate danger falls on wildlife refuges and the small number of researchers stationed there rather than a major town. The lesson for the rest of us sits a few hundred miles to the southeast. Lala first raked Hawaii's Big Island as a hurricane earlier this week, flooding roads and sweeping homes off their foundations, then pulled offshore and rebuilt its strength over warm water. A storm that looks finished can come back, which is why a plan made before the season holds up better than a forecast read on any single morning.
For any household in Hawaii or along a coast, Lala is a good reason to walk the basics again. Getting prepared for a hurricane starts with the two systems that fail first, power and clean water. Build up your water storage before a warning is ever posted, and decide now how you will prepare for a power outage that could run past a single day. If an evacuation order lands, a set emergency meeting spot keeps a scattered family on the same page.
Lala is forecast to stay over open water and away from the main Hawaiian Islands, but the high surf and the warnings across the monument will last for days. Once the winds ease, the work turns to cleanup and safe re-entry, and the aftermath of a hurricane carries its own hazards, from downed power lines to water you cannot trust. Check your supplies today, confirm your family knows the plan, and keep an eye on the Central Pacific Hurricane Center as the track firms up.
